Dark Mercy
by Dea1
Summary: A strange short story about one of young Kains meals. I don't fully understand the ending myself even though I wrote it. I tried other endings but this was the only one that seemed right, so I used it anyway. It doesn't really make sence.


Dark Mercy  
  
Kain walked through the streets of the diseased town. The plague that had been running rampant through the southern part of the country had hit this town particularly hard. A vile mist houndhung in the air carrying with it the putrid stench of the dead. Three-quarters of town had been killed and the remaining members were packing their things to leave. The plaque had hit just one night before hand and already it had done so much damage. Kain speeded up his pace. He wanted to be away from this place as soon as possible. His stomach would not be able to take much more of the stench. He was also rather hungry, but alas there was nothing here for him but diseased blood and that would never do.  
  
As he came to the town gate he noticed that this seemed to be the poorer part of town. The stench was at its thickest and worse here, which was not really surprising. As he passed the last house on the way to the gate his vampire ears picked up a gentle sobbing coming from within. For reasons unknown even to himself he walked towards the house and tried the door. It was locked but a swift kick was all that was needed to open it. An even stronger smell of death and the sight of a simple room greeted him. The sobbing was coming from a door just to his left. He walked towards it and slowly opened it and was hit by another wave of putrid air. This appeared to be a rather bare bedroom. He looked towards the source of the sobbing and found a bed. Two dead bodies lay underneath it covers. The sobbing was coming from between the bodies. Kain walked over to the bed and gently pulled the covers back. A small child sprang up from the bed and wrapped its arms around him. He was so surprised at this action that he was momentarily paralysed. When he recovered his senses he gently removed the child and held it at arms length. It was a little girl, aged about four years old. Her parents had been victims of the plague, but this child smelt clean, perhaps she was one of the lucky ones that had a natural resistance to it.  
  
"Please sir" she wept "Are you the doctor? Mama and Papa are very sick, they won't wake up. Can you help them?" Kain looked into the little girl's eyes. They were so big and beautiful, the dark brown colour shone out through her tears. "There is nothing I can do for your parents little one. They have already left this terrible world for a better place." " Then will you help me?" she pleaded. Something tugged at Kain's heart; he could not just leave this child here alone. The plague would not harm her but no one would take her in knowing that she was from this town. She would have to fend for herself and Kain doubted she would survive that. Even if she did, life for her would not be a happy one. She was a pretty child and pretty children left alone in the world what often taken advantage of. Kain was in no doubt that she would grow up to be a whore. Her innocence would be forcefully taken from her at a young age and she would then be constantly abused from that day on. The sweet child that he held in front of him was already dead even if she survived the time on her own. Kain could not bear to have that happen to her. If only he could, he would have taken care of her himself but he knew that that was impossible as he was a vampire and had no idea of how to bring up a child. He could not even make her a vampire to give her a better chance on her own as she was to young. To save her the life of suffering that she was destined to have, there was only one thing he could do and that would be to take her life painlessly now. "Yes child I will help you," he said as he released her from his grip.  
  
She walked into his embrace again and flung her arms tightly around his neck and sobbed into his shoulder. He bit gently into her neck, so gently in fact that she did not even feel it. As he sucked her life's blood away he could feel her heart slowing down. Her sobs became fewer. "Thank you" she whispered into his ear as her heart beat it's last and her arms dropped gently to her side. Kain pulled his head back and looked at her. Her eyes were closed and there was a peaceful look on her face. She was now reunited with her family and had escaped the horrible fate that would have been hers. Kain took the child in his arms and placed her back in between her parents on the bed.  
  
Kain then left the house and passed through the town gates and into the fresher air outside. He was no longer hungry; the little girl's blood had filled him. For a strange reason he did not understand he had to fight back his own tears. He knew that he had done the right thing by her, but he did not know why he had shown her any mercy at all. Was she not just pray to him? Why had he cared? He knew that he would never do such a thing again, human lives where of no consequence to him. Let them suffer, they where just sheep who deserved no mercy from him. A tear finally managed to fall from his eye, taking with it the last drop of his humanity. 


End file.
